As the global Web3 industry gropes forward amid technological fervor and regulatory uncertainty, the Asian market stands at a critical crossroads—on one side lies immense potential and innovative vitality, while on the other is the real chasm of ambiguous compliance, lack of trust, and fragmented ecosystems. How can this gap be bridged to turn potential into sustainable prosperity? HashKey Group, currently sprinting towards a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, reveals a clear path for us with its unique business layout and practices.
Step One: Building a Compliant "Ferry" to Connect Traditional and Digital Financial Worlds
The primary gap in the development of Web3 in Asia lies in the lack of compliant infrastructure. For a long time, institutional funds and mainstream users have stayed away due to concerns over security and compliance, leaving the market dominated by offshore platforms and retail speculation, making it difficult to form a solid foundation.
Since its establishment in 2018, HashKey Group has chosen a "heavy asset" yet crucial path: obtaining fully compliant licenses in every market it operates in. In Hong Kong, it holds Type 1 (securities trading) and Type 7 (automated trading services) licenses issued by the SFC, making it a licensed Virtual Asset Trading Platform (VATP) that can serve both retail and professional investors; in Bermuda, Singapore, Japan, and other locations, it also operates as a licensed entity.
This is not just about qualifications, but core business capability. Through its licensed exchange, HashKey Exchange provides institutional investors with a secure, regulated entry point, enabling them to include digital assets in formal investment portfolios. According to its prospectus, assets on its platform surged from zero in 2022 to over HK$19.9 billions as of September 30, 2025, with institutional clients contributing the majority of trading volume. Essentially, HashKey Group has built a robust "compliant ferry," safely and legally transporting the vast capital and talent of the traditional financial world to the new continent of Web3, solving the fundamental problem of "where the money comes from."
Step Two: Building Productive "Infrastructure" to Enable Assets to Create Real Value
Crossing the second gap—from speculative trading to value creation. If Web3 remains only at the level of asset speculation, it is nothing more than a castle in the air. Through its on-chain services, HashKey is transforming blockchain into productive infrastructure capable of generating stable cash flow and real utility.
Its core rests on two pillars:
1. Institutional-Grade Staking Services: HashKey Cloud, as the largest staking service provider in Asia, manages nearly HK$30 billions in staked assets. This not only provides institutional clients (such as ETF issuers) with compliant and secure yield generation solutions, but also deeply participates in the security maintenance of core networks like Ethereum, turning passively held cryptocurrencies into active assets supporting blockchain network operations.
2. HashKey Chain and Tokenization Services: This is an even more forward-looking layout. HashKey’s self-developed Ethereum Layer 2 network aims to become a compliance-first infrastructure for financial asset tokenization. It has already supported multiple financial institutions in issuing tokenized money market funds and other Real World Assets (RWA). This move is highly significant—it is introducing trillions of dollars worth of traditional assets such as bonds, funds, and commodities onto the chain in the form of digital twins, injecting deep real-world value and liquidity into Web3.
Step Three: Creating a "Circulatory System" for Value Discovery and Cultivation
A healthy economy requires a complete "R&D-production-investment" cycle. Through its asset management services, HashKey Group has completed the final piece of the ecological closed loop.
HashKey Capital, a subsidiary, is one of the earliest and most active blockchain venture capital institutions in Asia, managing HK$7.8 billions in assets since its inception and completing over 400 early-stage investments. This not only provides financial blood for cutting-edge technologies in the ecosystem, but also forms a powerful value discovery network and industry insight engine. The investment portfolio synergizes with the exchange and on-chain services, enabling quality projects to receive listing, liquidity support, and technological empowerment, while HashKey Group continues to capture the most cutting-edge innovation dividends in the industry.
Entering a New Stage: From Market to Ecosystem, From Experiment to System
In summary, HashKey Group's business is not a simple patchwork, but a carefully designed, three-dimensional project aimed at systematically solving the core pain points of Web3 development in Asia:
• The trading platform solves the problem of "access and liquidity";
• On-chain services solve the problem of "value generation and asset expansion";
• Asset management solves the problem of "innovation cultivation and value discovery".
The three are closely linked, forming a self-reinforcing ecological closed loop. It is transforming Web3 from a "marginal testing ground" full of speculation and risk into a modern digital financial system with compliant entry, productive foundation, institutional-grade services, and a complete investment cycle.
Therefore, HashKey Group's listing process is far more than a milestone for a single company. It marks a profound shift in the development logic of Web3 in Asia—from "barbaric growth" to "compliance-based foundation," from "traffic is king" to "ecosystem is king," and from "chasing bubbles" to "creating value." What HashKey is building is precisely the bridge that spans the gap between potential and reality. Its practices and explorations have undoubtedly opened a new stage for the entire Asian Web3 industry, driven by compliance, technology, and real value.
